Unrequited Ambition
by RubAChubb
Summary: Izuku bared his Hopes and Dreams to All Might, hoping for encouragement. Sadly for him, it was the opposite. Very small one-shot


"...Sometimes I think it would have been better if I had never asked."

No one was around to hear his words.

With his feet dangling off the edge of a highrise building and a gentle breeze wafting lazily through his messy green hair. A young boy, not even in his prime, sat callously past the protective rails around the top of the very same building where all his hopes and dreams finally shattered. Nothing would have stopped his fall if he decided just to lean just a little bit further forward.

 _"... Go take a swan dive off the roof!"_

It was odd yet not unexpected that his childhood friend's words were suddenly remembered now of all times. All it would take was a small adjustment, one small muscle movement and everything would literally come crashing down.

"I'm sorry Izuku. I'm sorry!"

Trust was a double edged sword, those who he could trust were few and far between. They were the ones he went to for support, for comfort, for safety… It's funny that they were also the ones who would hurt him the most.

It ended up being like a landslide really, the metropolis that was his ambition, his admiration and his future goals all ended up being swept along underneath the disaster that was his mother's attempt to comfort him.

 _"It's not wrong to dream…"_

After being crushed by disappointment of hearing about his quirklessness and then further demolished by his mother, his dreams were all he really had left. They were what helped him rebuild from the now desolate wasteland that was his ambition, a small thing really but it was his and only his.

 _"However…"_

Only now, someone else he looked up to had decided to follow the same route as his mother, a giant monster callously stomping through the ruins of his psyche unaware and uncaring of the tiny hut beneath its feet.

 _"You need to be realistic, kid"_

It didn't hurt as much as he thought it would, seeing his tiny hut made from hopes and dreams be crushed underfoot yet again. This time it was not by a tidal wave of misplaced attempts at comfort; instead it was the heavy and uncaring steps and swings from a person who he admired, the giant who could have helped rebuild his city with a wave of his hand, the giant who should have been there to protect his city.

Instead…

Sirens interrupted his thoughts as an explosion sounded in the distance, yet unlike before, he couldn't bring himself to care. There was no longer that excitement in the thought of seeing Heroes and Villains fight it out. The books which had been the foundation for his future suddenly seemed to weigh more in his bag, no longer being the lifeline it once was and more the anchor that was ready to pull him over the edge.

Each book he wrote was a reminder of what he could never have: a Quirk. The amazing powers which he yearned for that would let him fit in with his peers, better yet, the one thing that he needed to be able to achieve his dream. For a while he thought maybe he could make it without one, but now the little hut in his psych which safeguarded that hope was now gone, leaving what little hope he had left to just dissipate into the wind.

Maybe, just maybe it wouldn't be so bad to jump.

Peering over the edge, down towards the street below, he could see the small dots and boxes of people going about their lives. There weren't many around, only four or five as far as he could see, but each one was unique. Their color and size easily made each one distinguishable from the others. There was nothing special about them from his vantage point but deep down he knew each one was special, a unique existence to each other that no one else could be not just from their Quirks, but also their experience. He wondered about what hardships had they faced, what successes did they achieve, what lessons did they learn from their failures.

'I wonder if I can be as unique as them, even without a Quirk.'

With a sigh, Izuku finally stood up and dusted off his pants. Without missing a beat he grabbed the rail and leapt over back onto solid ground. He had rebuilt his psyche once before, he would do it again. Peering over the edge again, this time from behind the safety of the railings, Izuku gave one last look down towards the streets where nobody could have seen his inner turmoil before departing down the building. Maybe asking All Might was a bad idea, after all it was quite obvious what his answer was going to be.

But that didn't mean he couldn't move on.

His spirit may still be broken, his dreams crushed underfoot of his biggest idol. But from all his hardship Izuku knew that life would go on, maybe now that he received his answer he could finally get some closure to how he ignored reality, instead allowing himself to be blinded by optimism. Knowing that he tried his best, there wasn't much more he could have asked for. The pain was still there, he knew it would be a while before he could truly move on, but at least now he had his confirmation from the source of all his ambitions. Maybe he could start moving on and, as his teacher had said, start really thinking seriously about his future.

After all, just because he couldn't be a Pro Hero didn't mean he couldn't be a hero for someone else!

With that conviction Izuku strode forward, past the crowd of of people that had gathered around the explosion from earlier, he knew if he turned his attention to them his convictions would falter. So with a determined face and equally determined steps he continued walking back towards his home.

Maybe being a police officer wouldn't be so bad.

AN: Any unrequited feeling sucks, but at least it gives us an opportunity to learn from them. This whole story came about to help me vent and express myself. Anyways I hope you enjoyed reading my little venting here! You can probably tell what I'm actually venting about as well.


End file.
